(first posted 12/7/2012) If you were ten or so like me in 1963, these two were likely the most memorable (good) things that happened that year–provided you either had the the kind of parents who’d let you see Dr. No or had an older accomplice willing to sneak you in via the fire escape door in the alley. All of which was still easier than seeing a new ’63 Sting Ray in the flesh, at least in Iowa City. Of course, once one had finally arrived at the dealer I could actually run my hands over it, check out its innards and even slip right inside it. Ursula ‘Undress-ing’ Andress would have to stay in the realm of imagination.

Sitting in a split-back ‘Vette on the showroom floor and fondling the stick shift knob wasn’t exactly the real thing either, and for most young adult males, the Sting Ray was almost as unattainable as Ursula. Still, they could strive for a ‘Vette, even though it might take forty years to attain. And given the Sting Ray’s immense popularity (and high prices) nowadays, especially with guys around my age, I’d say quite a few of them were planted with the Sting-Ray seed in 1963. Ursula might be more attainable now.

In 1963, America was certainly ready for a new object of automotive lust. The 1962 Corvette’s familiar face was looking mighty tired and outdated, never mind the modified 1952 Chevrolet sedan frame and suspension that cowered in embarrassment under its mid fifties-Motorama skirts. The sixties had taken root, bringing with them new sensibilities and expectations; some would make the transition, others not.

Zora Arkus-Duntov would make sure the Corvette did despite the obstacles thrown in his way. Duntov joined the team shortly after the original Corvette was cobbled together; now it was his mission to make it a world-class sports car. The C1 may have been his adopted child, but he would father not only the 1963 C2 Sting Ray, but also a series of brilliant racing and sports-racing cars to test his leading-edge ideas, including this magnesium-body 1957 Corvette SS.

While his next stroke, the CERV I, looked for all the world like a 1964 Indy racer, it was actually built in 1959. If it hadn’t been for GM’s frustrating racing ban in 1957, the CERV I would have demonstrated the advantages of a mid-rear engine at Indianapolis five years sooner. The experience gained with its independent rear suspension was put to good use on the Sting Ray.

Calling Bill Mitchell the mother of the Sting Ray is a bit of a stretch, but Duntov and Mitchell certainly fought like lovers. Obviously, Mitchell had found inspiration in the sea for his series of Corvette-based one-offs and show cars, including the Sting Ray (left) and Mako Shark.

Unlike the big tush and soft contours of the C1 Corvette, which reflected Harley Earl’s style, Mitchell’s ocean creatures looked lean, muscular and certainly more aggressive. Can you imagine Marilyn pulling a knife?

Larry Shinoda, doing Mitchell’s bidding, brought his pescatarian vision to life. Shall we call him the midwife, or surrogate mother? In any case, the birth was not an easy one, marked by epic battles between Duntov and Mitchell over the Sting Ray’s body design.

Duntov envisioned more of a genuine sports-racer look with a lean, wedge-shaped body–perhaps something along the lines of his 1964 CERV II sports-racing car. Colorful expletives rang out in the Design Center. Ultimately, Mitchell pulled rank and Shinoda’s showy Sting Ray prevailed.

Their final spat was over the split-rear window. Mitchell obviously intended a sting ray’s tail in the raised rib; Duntov saw only a lack of rear visibility. By 1964, the window was a single pane. Sometimes an engineer’s logic is just overwhelming.

Although the Sting Ray was a giant step forward from the C1 Corvette, it still contained plenty of compromises. The chassis wasn’t exactly leading-edge, using a traditional full frame to carry the fiberglass body. More surprisingly, it used drum brakes all around. Discs would have to wait until 1965, for some inexplicable reason. Every proper new sports car in 1963 had discs; the Jaguar for almost a decade.

Here’s the what a truly contemporary state-of-the-art chassis looked like. Several decades later, the C5 Corvette would take a similar approach. Enough; we’re here to wallow in the Sting Ray’s bosom, not criticize.

Which is of course where the Sing Ray’s greatest assets resided. 327 cubic inches of sublime world-class goodness, regardless of which state of excitement they came in: 250, 300 and 340 hp with carburation, or the 360 hp fuel-injected crème de la crème. Nothing from Europe could top a 327 in terms of performance per dollar. Which is why it found itself under the hood of a number of exotics there.

On the streets, the Sting Ray was nigh-near unbeatable. With a modest 3.70 axle, it still clicked off the dive to sixty in under six seconds, and the quarter mile in 14.5 @ 102 mph. If that wasn’t fast enough to stay ahead of the pack, one headed for the curves. In ZO6 form, the Sting Ray acquitted itself well enough on the tracks, at least until the lighter Cobra appeared and bared its deadly fangs.

For most Corvette drivers, the race for the opposite sex was the most important one. And in 1963, this was as good as ammunition got. She wonders, “Does he actually have Ursula or me on his mind?”

Although imperfect, the C2 Corvette Sting Ray was the best-ever Corvette, for its given time. Yes, a current Corvette makes the C2 look antiquated; then again, many of today’s emaciated gym-addict stars make Ursula look a bit less than perfectly-toned. But in 1963, when both were as good as it got, the Corvette’s features were unparalleled for its cost. Only a man with a heart of stone could resist temptation like this! I was happy to know that I didn’t have a heart of stone. I didn’t even make the slightest effort to resist its charms. I obsessed on the Sting Ray like no other car in my youth.

That interior, on the very rare occasions I could get into one, was utterly sublime. Finally, GM could build a truly world-class sports car, and I knew it from just sitting and staring at that wheel and dash. Cars like the XK-E were exotic abstractions in Iowa; with a bit of change in one’s pocket, one could actually go to any Chevy dealer and buy a Corvette. Or at least sit in one and dream. That was the true brilliance of the Corvette back then.

Every minute detail of the Sting Ray was analyzed and absorbed, endlessly and repetitively. OCD: Obsessive Corvette Disorder. And a sighting on the streets was a major occasion. Like seeing James Bond and Ursula on the street.

And if James Bond had been an American CIA agent, we all know what he’d have been driving…with Ursula at his side.

True, the Cobra MIGHT have been a quicker, more agile car….but it was, in it’s hearts of hearts, still an English sports car. Your feet melted in the summer, you froze in the winter and got dripped on if you drove it in the rain.

The C2 fastback, esp when equipped with GM’s always excellent factory Air Conditioning, was an all weather car. A real car, not some British toy with an American heart. A car that could be your only car, if need be.

Only a British sports car masochist would have a Cobra as their only car.

Why don’t we just call the Mitchell/Shinoda/Duntov trio co-fathers of the C2?

Funny, back around 83 (I was 10) my Dad was renting a spot in our garage to a neighbor with a project car 66 Vette.
I can’t remember how many times I got “grounded” for farting around inside that thing. No car on the planet could have been cooler at that time.

Great write up and also mimics my experience with them. The Chevy Dealer for Savannah, Ga lived around the corner from us and his son was around my age. His Dad had a silver gray 63 Coupe as his demo. Wow what a car! I can still see it sitting in his driveway! Made everything the Cadillac- Pontiac Dealer who lived up the street from us as so Ho Hum. The son, around the same time found his Dads stash of Playboys and shared that find with me. Awakenings in so many directions for an 8 year old!

I have to say, I’m a fan. Of any Corvette, the C2 is the only one that really appeals to me. I sort of like the later C1 (56 on) and the early C3 has a kind of charm, but these were, as you say, perfection for their time.

Around 1971 or so my stepmother’s cousin showed up to say hello. He had an electric blue coupe, perhaps a 67? My dad got to drive it and I got to ride shotgun. I was impressed that old dad could handle it (he was more of a Country Squire and Continental guy). I think that is the only time I have actually been in one of these, certainly one underway.

Agree on the C2 being the one that really appeals to me. I would had cheerfully gone without underwear, wore socks falling down into my ankles and lived off no-brand mac & cheese to be able to afford a C2!

When the C3 appeared my interest in Corvettes quickly faded. The C3 and later models became, IMO, the car recently divorced dentists bought to relive the childhood/20-something time period of their lives that they never had.

I’m loving the fine print in that Lotus ad: “The sleek and aggressive glass fibre reinforced plastic coachwork which further enhances the advanced mechanical specification, is included at no extra charge.”

“Duntov envisioned more of a genuine sports-racer look with a lean, wedge-shaped body–perhaps something along the lines of his 1964 CERV II sports-racing car. Colorful expletives rang out in the Design Center. Ultimately, Mitchell pulled rank and Shinoda’s showy Sting Ray prevailed.”

Given American tastes Mitchell was correct. American cars of that era were or had been quite flashy, some “obnoxious” flashy (59 Caddy, just 4 years prior). This Corvette was flashy also, but tasteful. American tastes did evolve more not to long after that, but a CERV II type Corvette in appearance would have been a bit too early. This Corvette is a transitionary design. Works for me.

My idiot brother in law bought a 95 Corvette coupe two years ago. A really nice car, but I can barely get in and out without hurting something. At this Thanksgiving dinner, he’s being his obnoxious self, telling me how it’s a babe magnet. (He’s married, I don’t how his wife stands him.) Now, I ask this bald, fat, 60 year old, what type of women he’s attracting?

He tells me about this 50ish woman he works with that flirts with him. He describes her as a great body, but needs a paper bag over her head. What a jerk!

An old pal of mine bought a 1967 Stingray coupe just after he got out of the Navy. He and I had a nice ride from Tacoma to Portland and back, especially cruising downtown Portland in the late afternoon. I showed him the back way, up to Rainier on the Oregon side of the Columbia River and crossing at Longview. I was probably lucky to get the ride, as it wasn’t long before the car was repossessed. That’s really about the only interaction I’ve had with a Vette.

It’s a difficult choice between three of the most beautiful US cars ever, I think my vote will go to the Stingray just ’cause I prefer both the Riviera and the Grand Prix in their later 1965 incarnation !

And with the Corvette Stingray, we are now officially in the Golden Age of GM. Beautiful write up and I love the comparison of the Sting Ray with Ursula. Mitchell, Duntov, Shinoda, I mean if ever there was an automotive equivilant to the 1927 NY Yankess, Murderer’s Row, can there be no greater then these? So yes, please register my vote for the 1963 Corvette Stingray as 1963 CCOTY. The other nominations are outstanding in their own right, but here is the car that launched many a boyhood dream into lusting for a car, a Corvette. That desire continues to this very day!

I’d like the reader to really understand the dramatic breakthrough this car had to have had on it’s release. Up until 1963 there was no American car on the road that looked like this one, the jet fighter plane canopy ending in the rear split windows……the hidden headlights……the raised rear stinger and those iconic rear round tail lamps, the raised front fender bulges. And underneath the hood, the powerful 327 cubic inch V-8. The interior was another break through in design from the twin pod front dash, with the engine gauges all perfectly in place for the driver to see.

The Corvette Stingray is one of the all time immortal sports cars alongside the Jaguar XK-E, Mercedes Benz 300SL and Porsche 356/911 series. The Duntov/Mitchell story is simply icing on the cake!

A friend of mine has a ’61 Vette with the 315 horse 283 with dual quads. Extremely rare and desirable, but a real truck to drive. And without an expert to balance the dual quads, the thing couldn’t get out of its own way. A schoolmate of mine (one year ahead of me) came back to our school to initiate our class into the alumini association. He drove his ’63 split window with its 365 horse 327 to the alumini reunion. It was the former personal car of Jim Hall of Chaparral fame with exhaust cutouts just ahead of the rear wheels. The morning after our sadistic initiation, we went out on the back roads of Arkansas with open exhausts to enjoy the beast. Incredible!

The midyear (’63-’67) Vettes can command very high prices, but those are generally for matching-numbers fuelies or big blocks. A ’66 convertible, such as the one my friend owns, unrestored with a 300 horse 327, can go for as little as $20,000. The ’68 and later C3 small blocks can go for even less. The C3s are almost identical to the C2s save for an added 10″ (254 mm) in length.

At the time I found the Corvette cool but the Jaguar XKE much more interesting, both from a styling and engineering standpoint. Come to think of it, I also dwelled more on the Avanti than the Corvette. I guess the flashiness of the Sting Ray wasn’t as appealing.

This is definitely my vote for 1963. It was really an amazing car for the time, great performance for the money, just like Vette today. In 1963, Ferrari and Aston Martin were still using solid axles. The chassis wasn’t the most sophisticated, but it was tough, cost effective, and returned respectable handling. Plus the car had a nice 48/52 balance. In a “Road Test Magazine” article comparing the 1965 Vette to the XKE, said this about the handling “In Handling , they are equally matched, although one seems to work a little harder in pushing the Corvette to the maximum.” Yes, I know this is for the 1965 Vette, but this was a small-block car, and suspension and chassis (other than brakes) were close to the 1963.

Sure, they could (and probably should have) have put disc brakes on the car, but my guess is cost limitations made them wait for a couple of years. At least the drums were the best in the industry when equipped with the sintered iron linings. Motor Trend stated “brake linings of sintered iron don’t require special drums, [and] are practically impossible to fade” and recorded a 60-0 stop in 134 feet. Motor Trend also stated “For all-out competition, there’s a special performance brake option…this setup gives the competition Corvette braking power on par with many of its disc braked competitors.” And when Corvette got 4-wheel disc brakes in 1965, Road Test rated them better than the XKE’s brakes.

The fuel 327 was a sweet engine, and the later 375hp versions pushed it well past 140 MPH. It’s too bad the cheap easy power of the big block killed it off, although I still love 427 Vettes. The Muncie speed also received numerous compliments as a great transmission. The styling of course is timeless, in my opinion the best Vette generation to date. Overall, the 1963 Corvette made the Corvette a world class sports car, maybe not the best, but certainly a great car then and now.

My father worked on the assembly line for GM and he took my brother and I to what turned out to be the last Motorama in SF. I think this was in 1962 give or take a year. There were all kinds of showcars and technology exhibits as well as a lavish stage production. Around this time the Stingray and XKE were released. I was around 8 yrs. old and of course I was hooked. So was the rest of America, probably why the Mustang was so well received. I consider both to be the pinnacle of desirability. I have passed on a used Vette several times on the way to my sixtieth birthday but I think that in a year or two I’ll be ready to take the plunge for a late C4 or early C5. Like a Harley Davidson always remains a Harley Davidson ( some years better than others) so does a Vette. Like I told my son once,”no matter how old a Mercedes is,it never turns into a Camry”.

Don’t forget Pete Brock’s contribution to the C2’s styling – his book on the evolution from”Q” Corvette to final Sting Ray is fascinating. This was my dream car in the UK as a lad in the ’70s and inspired me to become a car designer. Colleagues in the Porsche development team in Weissach who drove my ’66 big block roadster were very impressed with the way it handled and the traction it had as well as its power…..I managed to find a ’63 fuellie (360hp) coupe in tuxedo black with red interior in Germany as a stablemate and that car is surprisingly quick on its Rochester injection system, even if the drum brakes are not suited to Alpine passes…I like the way the car got cleaner and more serious as it was annually facelifted, the ’66 coupe being the purest C2 in my opinion…These cars look even more spectacular in a European setting – I drove the roadster all over Europe including almost daily in Paris when I lived there in the late ’90s, even being given a “special” parking space outside Harry’s American Bar on the insistance of the doorman as he loved the car so much……..

I think people react to the C2 so positively because the design (as with many other vehicles and products) expresses an optimism that seemed to mark the early ’60s in the USA – as opposed to the weary feel of many of the malaise era designs…I imagine the early ’60s to have been a great time to be alive in the USA – a few years when things seemed to be developing in such (generally) positive directions before the more cynical era (after ’67?). Or am I deluding myself here?

In 1973, an apartment neighbor of mine bought a 1973 Corvette. I would have guessed he was about sixty, at the time, with white hair. His wife made Rosa Klebb, of “From Russia, with Love” fame, look like a beauty queen by comparison. Looking down from my fourth floor balcony, watching the two of them take the car out on Sundays, with the T-bar roof panels removed, was comical, to say the least.

He did take me for a ride in it, once, and promised that the next time, I would be behind the steering wheel. That day never came. The next I heard, the car had been totaled in an accident. He did not have insurance on it.

My next encounter with a Corvette came in about 1982 or so. My then girlfriend had always wanted a ride in a Corvette. One day, a neighbor of mine had a friend visit, who owned a C3, I don’t remember the year. I asked him, if he would take my girlfriend for a ride. He said he did not want the responsibility, and handed me the keys. I couldn’t believe it. I had never met this man before.